It is time to say some goodbyes. Next week will mark the conclusion of this column, roughly 250 editions and a quarter of a million words after I launched it in January 2013. Professional obligations mean that I must move on. I will keep writing about international affairs, but I am sad to bid farewell to this weekly perch.
It has been a fruitful but frustrating time to comment on crisis management and multilateral affairs. When I kicked off “Diplomatic Fallout,” a political resolution to the Syrian civil war still seemed possible and Russia had not yet seized Crimea. I will reflect on the strategic lessons of the ensuing six years of diplomatic chaos in two WPR pieces—my final column and an in-depth article—next week. But for now, I’ll focus on style over substance.
Whatever the strengths and faults of this column, it has built up a small but solid readership. I do not have a mass audience, nor have I ever tried to write for one. But a surprisingly significant number of diplomats and United Nations officials seem to read these screeds on a regular basis.